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Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors, from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty eating. Complications may include inflammation of the tissue around the tooth, tooth loss and infection or abscess formation. Tooth regeneration is an on-going stem cell based field of study that is trying to reverse the effects of decay, unlike most current methods which only try to make dealing with the effects easier.
Dentin or dentine is a calcified tissue of the body and, along with enamel, cementum, and pulp, is one of the four major components of teeth. It is usually covered by enamel on the crown and cementum on the root and surrounds the entire pulp. By volume, 45% of dentin consists of the mineral hydroxyapatite, 33% is organic material, and 22% is water. Yellow in appearance, it greatly affects the color of a tooth due to the translucency of enamel. Dentin, which is less mineralized and less brittle than enamel, is necessary for the support of enamel. Dentin rates approximately 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. There are two main characteristics which distinguish dentin from enamel: firstly, dentin forms throughout life; secondly, dentin is sensitive and can become hypersensitive to changes in temperature due to the sensory function of odontoblasts, especially when enamel recedes and dentin channels become exposed.
Tooth whitening or tooth bleaching is the process of lightening the color of human teeth. Whitening is often desirable when teeth become yellowed over time for a number of reasons, and can be achieved by changing the intrinsic or extrinsic color of the tooth enamel. The chemical degradation of the chromogens within or on the tooth is termed as bleaching.
The pulp is the connective tissue, nerves, blood vessels, and odontoblasts that comprise the innermost layer of a tooth. The pulp's activity and signalling processes regulate its behaviour.
In dentistry, a crown or a dental cap is a type of dental restoration that completely caps or encircles a tooth or dental implant. A crown may be needed when a large dental cavity threatens the health of a tooth. Some dentists will also finish root canal treatment by covering the exposed tooth with a crown. A crown is typically bonded to the tooth by dental cement. They can be made from various materials, which are usually fabricated using indirect methods. Crowns are used to improve the strength or appearance of teeth and to halt deterioration. While beneficial to dental health, the procedure and materials can be costly.
Hydroxyapatite is a naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite with the formula Ca5(PO4)3(OH), often written Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 to denote that the crystal unit cell comprises two entities. It is the hydroxyl endmember of the complex apatite group. The OH− ion can be replaced by fluoride or chloride, producing fluorapatite or chlorapatite. It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system. Pure hydroxyapatite powder is white. Naturally occurring apatites can, however, also have brown, yellow, or green colorations, comparable to the discolorations of dental fluorosis.
In vertebrates, an odontoblast is a cell of neural crest origin that is part of the outer surface of the dental pulp, and whose biological function is dentinogenesis, which is the formation of dentin, the substance beneath the tooth enamel on the crown and the cementum on the root.
Pulpitis is inflammation of dental pulp tissue. The pulp contains the blood vessels, the nerves, and connective tissue inside a tooth and provides the tooth's blood and nutrients. Pulpitis is mainly caused by bacterial infection which itself is a secondary development of caries. It manifests itself in the form of a toothache.
Also known as a "bonderizer" bonding agents are resin materials used to make a dental composite filling material adhere to both dentin and enamel.
Dentin hypersensitivity is dental pain which is sharp in character and of short duration, arising from exposed dentin surfaces in response to stimuli, typically thermal, evaporative, tactile, osmotic, chemical or electrical; and which cannot be ascribed to any other dental disease.
Sensodyne is a brand name of toothpaste and mouthwash targeted at people with sensitive teeth. Sensodyne is owned by Haleon and is marketed under the name Shumitect in Japan.
Dental attrition is a type of tooth wear caused by tooth-to-tooth contact, resulting in loss of tooth tissue, usually starting at the incisal or occlusal surfaces. Tooth wear is a physiological process and is commonly seen as a normal part of aging. Advanced and excessive wear and tooth surface loss can be defined as pathological in nature, requiring intervention by a dental practitioner. The pathological wear of the tooth surface can be caused by bruxism, which is clenching and grinding of the teeth. If the attrition is severe, the enamel can be completely worn away leaving underlying dentin exposed, resulting in an increased risk of dental caries and dentin hypersensitivity. It is best to identify pathological attrition at an early stage to prevent unnecessary loss of tooth structure as enamel does not regenerate.
Adhesive dentistry is a branch of dentistry which deals with adhesion or bonding to the natural substance of teeth, enamel and dentin. It studies the nature and strength of adhesion to dental hard tissues, properties of adhesive materials, causes and mechanisms of failure of the bonds, clinical techniques for bonding and newer applications for bonding such as bonding to the soft tissue. There is also direct composite bonding which uses tooth-colored direct dental composites to repair various tooth damages such as cracks or gaps.
In dentistry, the configuration factor refers to the number of bonded surfaces in an adhesive dental restoration. Because adhesive dental restorative material will adhere to the walls of a cavity preparation made available to it during polymerization, competing forces can arise during restoration of the tooth that can have both short and long term effects that correlate to the configuration of the cavity preparation.
In dentistry, the hydrodynamic or fluid movement theory is one of three main theories developed to explain dentine hypersensitivity, which is a sharp, transient pain arising from stimuli exposure. It states that different types of stimuli act on exposed dentine, causing increased fluid flow through the dentinal tubules. In response to this movement, mechanoreceptors on the pulp nerves trigger the acute, temporary pain of dentine hypersensitivity.
Tooth remineralization is the natural repair process for non-cavitated tooth lesions, in which calcium, phosphate and sometimes fluoride ions are deposited into crystal voids in demineralised enamel. Remineralization can contribute towards restoring strength and function within tooth structure.
In dentistry, the smear layer is a layer found on root canal walls after root canal instrumentation. It consists of microcrystalline and organic particle debris. It was first described in 1975 and research has been performed since then to evaluate its importance in bacteria penetration into the dentinal tubules and its effects on endodontic treatment. More broadly, it is the organic layer found over all hard tooth surfaces.
Silver diammine fluoride (SDF), also known as silver diamine fluoride in most of the dental literature, is a topical medication used to treat and prevent dental caries and relieve dentinal hypersensitivity. It is a colorless or blue-tinted, odourless liquid composed of silver, ammonium and fluoride ions at a pH of 10.4 or 13. Ammonia compounds reduce the oxidative potential of SDF, increase its stability and helps to maintain a constant concentration over a period of time, rendering it safe for use in the mouth. Silver and fluoride ions possess antimicrobial properties and are used in the remineralization of enamel and dentin on teeth for preventing and arresting dental caries.
Oligopeptide P11-4 is a synthetic, pH controlled self-assembling peptide used for biomimetic mineralization e.g. for enamel regeneration or as an oral care agent. P11-4 consists of the natural occurring amino acids Glutamine, Glutamic acid, Phenylalanine, Tryptophan and Arginine. The resulting higher molecular structure has a high affinity to tooth mineral. P11-4 has been developed and patented by The University of Leeds (UK). The Swiss company Credentis has licensed the peptide technology and markets it under the trade names including CUROLOX, REGENAMEL, and EMOFLUOR. They offer three products with this technology. As of June 2016 in Switzerland products are available with new Brand names from Dr. Wild & Co AG.
Biofilling, also known as orthograde canal grafting technique or 4D sealing, is an endodontic root canal obturation technique with a Bioceramic material after root canal preparation and enlargement procedure.
References
- ↑ Heraeus-Kulzer: GLUMA [ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ Kobler, A; Schaller, HG; Gernhardt, CR: Effects of the desensitizing agents Gluma and Hyposen on the tensile bond strength of dentin adhesives. Am J Dent 2008 Dec;21(6):388-92.
- ↑ Jalalian, E; Meraji, N; Mirzaei, M: A Comparison of the Efficacy of Potassium Nitrate and Gluma Desensitizer in the Reduction of Hypersensitivity in Teeth with Full Crown Restorations [ permanent dead link ]. J Contemp Dent Pract 2009 January; (10)1:066-073.
- ↑ Schüpbach, P; Lutz, F; Finger, WJ: Closing of dentinal tubules by Gluma desensitizer. European J Oral Sci 1997;105(5 Pt 1):414-2
- ↑ Sanjay Miglani, Vivek Aggarwal, and Bhoomika Ahuja: Dentin hypersensitivity: Recent trends in management. J Conserv Dent 2010 Oct-Dec;13(4): 218–224